Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or anything like
that, except Kazak.
Thanks in advance for glancing in the direction of my story. I'm hoping for reviews. I'll keep going, putting up new chapters as often as I can. I'll go faster if people tell me they like it. ^_^
"Understand this, there was once an alliance of four great races in the galaxy; the Asgaard, the Nox, the Furlings and the Ancients." ~Quote from The Fifth Race. This story is an idea as to who the Furlings are and what happened to them.
Furlings: Furlonia
When she emerged from the Stargate, Major Carter took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air. It was so fresh and untainted that upon the first breath she felt uneasy as her lungs began to sting. After a few deep breaths, she adapted. Being the last one through, she paused just in front of the event horizon and took in the sights of the alien world. As she looked around, she slowly realized how unique this planet was. The gate was in a small clearing, barely bigger then the gate room back on Earth. The edge of the clearing was a wall of trees. The trees knit together to form a mixture of forest and jungle. The green of the leaves was faded, and every leaf appeared slightly yellow under the violet sky. The sun rose over the horizon from behind the gate and a moon sat high in the sky in front of the gate. The sky which cradled them was a soft violet color, flecked with streams of blue and red.
Just as Carter was about to comment, a wild birdcall was heard and a rustling accompanied it. Off to her right, she found the noise. "There, sir." She said and pointed. Out from the leaves came a beautiful crimson bird. With the prowess of an eagle and the build of a falcon, the bird gracefully glided out of the forest and across the clearing.
"Relax." Kazak ordered and the SG team did so. The bird perched on an outstretched limb and watched the people in the clearing. When Kazak locked eyes with it, the bird opened its mouth and a very uncharacteristic series of snarls and growls escaped. After a few seconds, the bird became quiet again. SG-1 looked toward Kazak.
"He said, 'welcome home, Kazak'." Kazak translated as O'Neill threw him a look that said no more than 'obviously'.
"It speaks your language too?" Daniel inquired. After he did the bird suddenly lost its lively look and became totally still on the branch. It sat lifeless for many moments before Carter spoke up.
"It's a robot."
"What?" The colonel responded, unconvinced.
"Am I right?"
"Yes, you are." Kazak answered, then he snarled at the bird and it became alive again. It looked around, then flew off into the trees. "It serves as the gatekeeper. If I had not been here with you, it would have opened the gate back to your world and then activated the tree-mounted auto- cannons to target lock you. Hopefully, that would be enough incentive, and you would leave."
"Tree-mounted auto-cannons?" The colonel questioned.
Kazak roared and six machine-gun like objects dropped out of the canopy of leaves and aimed toward the group. "An Asgaard gift, to keep our world safe from explorers and wanderers." He roared again and the weapons disappeared. "There is quite a walk to our destination. Longer so with you in tow."
"Don't worry, we'll keep up." The colonel added in his commanding voice.
"Keep up you must. There are many dangers hidden behind these trees. So stay close." Kazak walked over to the edge of the clearing and found a path that was barely wide enough to walk through without snagging any branches. SG-1 lined up behind him and they started their journey. Carter and Daniel were right behind Kazak and O'Neill and Teal'c took up the rear.
"So, rather than walk in silence, is there any questions you have that I can answer?" Kazak offered after several minutes of silence. The others had been eyeing the strange forest and had not realized a cloud of silence had overtaken them.
"The sky." Carter began. "Why is it purple?"
"Furlonia lies within the Lucanon Nebula. The color you see is a result of the gases in our upper atmosphere."
As they walked, they asked questions about the plants, the mountain ranges in the distance and the Furlings in general. Kazak answered all the questions about nature very quickly but evaded all the questions about his people. Daniel was in the middle of asking Kazak to let him hear some of the native language when Kazak suddenly stopped and raised a hand to silence him.
"What's-" O'Neill began but he was quickly cut off by Kazak. They stood in silence, Kazak in a stance of total alertness, his ears flinched at sounds the Humans couldn't hear, his nose twitched taking in smells the Humans didn't smell and his eyes were trained intently on the trees to his right. Five minutes passed before he relaxed and started walking again after swiping wildly with one clawed hand to clear some branches out of the way.
"What was that all about?" The colonel asked, wondering if he should be worried or not.
"Did you not smell it?" Kazak asked, before realizing they must not have. After all, their noses were quite small.. "I smelt a Shukshora. A dangerous beast that we must be very cautious of."
"Why?" Daniel inquired.
"A Furling's claws are the sharpest natural object known to the Asgaard. There are only two materials that can stand up to them. One is a very unstable Asgaard metal, the other is the skin of the Shukshora." Kazak answered and the group continued in silence.
After about fifteen minutes, Kazak told SG-1 to continue walking the path and that he'd be back in a few moments. He slipped away through the wall of trees and vanished. The group kept walking slowly, searching for any signs of danger. Teal'c was the first one to catch the movement in the distance. Through the canopy, many trees that stood as high or higher than the great redwoods of Canada could be seen. These trees shot through the canopy like spires toward some distant heaven. Upon the nearest one, the team made out a blue figure climbing up the sheer bark. Just before he reached the branches he dug the claws on his feet and left hand into the bark and leaned back to survey the land. After a few seconds, he threw his head back and let out a howl that would put a wolf to shame. He howled long and when he finally stopped, he waited. After a few seconds, a barely audible echo returned to him and he hung his head in sadness as he descended the tree.
Kazak slipped back into the position as leader, without a sound. He brought with him an uneasy silence, which no person dared break, until finally Col. O'Neill spoke up. "What was that all about?"
"When we need to communicate over large distances, a Furling climbs one of those spires and yells his family name. If it's heard by any other, whether it be a tribe or a single wanderer, they will throw their heads back and answer." The uneasy silence returned when SG-1 realized that Kazak had gotten no response which meant no other Furling could hear that magnificent howl.
"We'll rest here." Kazak said as the path opened up onto a small clearing with a crystal clear stream running through it. The rocks provided excellent seats and the team took this chance to rest their feet. They'd been walking for almost two hours. As Carter sat down on one of the rocks, Daniel collapsed onto the soft grass beside the stream and Teal'c stood near Carter, eyes alert to every person in the clearing. O'Neill took out his canteen and took a few swigs as he watch the Furling stand at the edge of the clearing, focusing hard on something beyond the wall of trees.
Daniel got onto his knees beside the stream and looked down into the shallow water at his barely visible reflection. He slowly reached a hand toward the water in order to cup some to take a drink. His hand was inches from the water when he felt two clawed hands roughly grab his shoulders and pull him backwards away from the glistening water. Shocked, Daniel sat sprawled out on the grass staring up at the worried Kazak.
"What was that all about?" Daniel cried out.
"Don't touch the water." Kazak said in a very low tone.
"I'm sorry." Daniel began. "Is it sacred?"
"No. It's acidic."
"Acidic?" Carter asked.
"Yes, I'm sure you felt it when you came through the gate. The gases in the upper atmosphere not only yield the violet sky, they taint the air." Kazak kneeled down beside the river. "The air close to the surface is not very acidic and Thor assured me it would not harm any other species, at least not with exposure of less then a few days. The water, however is extremely dangerous to you. That is one of the reasons you must never come here without me. The rain is very unpredictable, even for Thor. I however can sense it, so with me, you are safe." Kazak reached down and cupped a palm full of water. "My species have evolved to a point where the acid doesn't hurt us. Our fur keeps us safe. The other plants and animals have also adapted to it." Kazak looked toward Daniel who was eating a snack bar. "May I?" He inquired, motioning to the plastic wrapper.
"Sure." Daniel said and placed the wrapper in the outstretched hand. Kazak held the wrapper over the water, then let it fall. It floated down and landed softly. The moment it touched the water, a hissing sound filled the clearing as the bubbles in the water appeared to attack the garbage. The Humans watched in awe as the wrapper slowly faded to nothing before their eyes. After a short while longer, their journey began again.
An hour later, they reached their destination. At the base of a cliff, there was an artificial cave. Two vertical columns along with the walls of the cave formed three arches that acted as the entrance. As they approached, they discovered that the pillars were about 8 feet high along with the ceiling. The pillars and walls of the cave were etched with, what Daniel assumed was writing. The cave came to a sudden end about twenty feet in, blocked by a manmade wall, also etched with writing an pictures. They entered the cave and found there were strategically placed rocks and carved out spots that looked like rather comfortable seats. Unlit torches hung on the walls and because the sun hung low on the horizon, Kazak picked up a rock, scratched it with his claws and easily lit one of the torches. He then offered everyone to sit down while he lit the other three torches.
"What is this place?" Daniel asked as he got comfortable on a rock near an old fire pit.
"A temple to a memory." Kazak answered. "When you are ready, we can begin."
"No time like the present." O'Neill said as he stood up.
"Then come with me." Kazak, still holding a torch approached the wall at the back of the cave. SG-1 followed close behind. He stood in front of the wall and stared towards it, as if searching for something. Shoulder height on the far right he found it. The glyph he found consisted of three diagonal slashes. He reached up and placed his claws in the grooves. Effortlessly he slid his claw and a rumbling sound accompanied the tablet as it slid out of the way.
"Neat." The colonel commented.
"Hope lies without, but truth lies within." Kazak read from a section of wall that remained. Then he stepped forward into the blackness and waited for SG-1 to follow. Carefully they all entered and slowly made their way deeper into the unlit temple. A soft rumbling came from behind them as the tablet closed again and the only light in the darkness was the torch in Kazak's hand. They all advanced eager to learn what awaited them, but dreadful of what would come first.
Thanks to my loyal reviewer, Pauline.
Everyone Please Review! Thanks!
Thanks in advance for glancing in the direction of my story. I'm hoping for reviews. I'll keep going, putting up new chapters as often as I can. I'll go faster if people tell me they like it. ^_^
"Understand this, there was once an alliance of four great races in the galaxy; the Asgaard, the Nox, the Furlings and the Ancients." ~Quote from The Fifth Race. This story is an idea as to who the Furlings are and what happened to them.
Furlings: Furlonia
When she emerged from the Stargate, Major Carter took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air. It was so fresh and untainted that upon the first breath she felt uneasy as her lungs began to sting. After a few deep breaths, she adapted. Being the last one through, she paused just in front of the event horizon and took in the sights of the alien world. As she looked around, she slowly realized how unique this planet was. The gate was in a small clearing, barely bigger then the gate room back on Earth. The edge of the clearing was a wall of trees. The trees knit together to form a mixture of forest and jungle. The green of the leaves was faded, and every leaf appeared slightly yellow under the violet sky. The sun rose over the horizon from behind the gate and a moon sat high in the sky in front of the gate. The sky which cradled them was a soft violet color, flecked with streams of blue and red.
Just as Carter was about to comment, a wild birdcall was heard and a rustling accompanied it. Off to her right, she found the noise. "There, sir." She said and pointed. Out from the leaves came a beautiful crimson bird. With the prowess of an eagle and the build of a falcon, the bird gracefully glided out of the forest and across the clearing.
"Relax." Kazak ordered and the SG team did so. The bird perched on an outstretched limb and watched the people in the clearing. When Kazak locked eyes with it, the bird opened its mouth and a very uncharacteristic series of snarls and growls escaped. After a few seconds, the bird became quiet again. SG-1 looked toward Kazak.
"He said, 'welcome home, Kazak'." Kazak translated as O'Neill threw him a look that said no more than 'obviously'.
"It speaks your language too?" Daniel inquired. After he did the bird suddenly lost its lively look and became totally still on the branch. It sat lifeless for many moments before Carter spoke up.
"It's a robot."
"What?" The colonel responded, unconvinced.
"Am I right?"
"Yes, you are." Kazak answered, then he snarled at the bird and it became alive again. It looked around, then flew off into the trees. "It serves as the gatekeeper. If I had not been here with you, it would have opened the gate back to your world and then activated the tree-mounted auto- cannons to target lock you. Hopefully, that would be enough incentive, and you would leave."
"Tree-mounted auto-cannons?" The colonel questioned.
Kazak roared and six machine-gun like objects dropped out of the canopy of leaves and aimed toward the group. "An Asgaard gift, to keep our world safe from explorers and wanderers." He roared again and the weapons disappeared. "There is quite a walk to our destination. Longer so with you in tow."
"Don't worry, we'll keep up." The colonel added in his commanding voice.
"Keep up you must. There are many dangers hidden behind these trees. So stay close." Kazak walked over to the edge of the clearing and found a path that was barely wide enough to walk through without snagging any branches. SG-1 lined up behind him and they started their journey. Carter and Daniel were right behind Kazak and O'Neill and Teal'c took up the rear.
"So, rather than walk in silence, is there any questions you have that I can answer?" Kazak offered after several minutes of silence. The others had been eyeing the strange forest and had not realized a cloud of silence had overtaken them.
"The sky." Carter began. "Why is it purple?"
"Furlonia lies within the Lucanon Nebula. The color you see is a result of the gases in our upper atmosphere."
As they walked, they asked questions about the plants, the mountain ranges in the distance and the Furlings in general. Kazak answered all the questions about nature very quickly but evaded all the questions about his people. Daniel was in the middle of asking Kazak to let him hear some of the native language when Kazak suddenly stopped and raised a hand to silence him.
"What's-" O'Neill began but he was quickly cut off by Kazak. They stood in silence, Kazak in a stance of total alertness, his ears flinched at sounds the Humans couldn't hear, his nose twitched taking in smells the Humans didn't smell and his eyes were trained intently on the trees to his right. Five minutes passed before he relaxed and started walking again after swiping wildly with one clawed hand to clear some branches out of the way.
"What was that all about?" The colonel asked, wondering if he should be worried or not.
"Did you not smell it?" Kazak asked, before realizing they must not have. After all, their noses were quite small.. "I smelt a Shukshora. A dangerous beast that we must be very cautious of."
"Why?" Daniel inquired.
"A Furling's claws are the sharpest natural object known to the Asgaard. There are only two materials that can stand up to them. One is a very unstable Asgaard metal, the other is the skin of the Shukshora." Kazak answered and the group continued in silence.
After about fifteen minutes, Kazak told SG-1 to continue walking the path and that he'd be back in a few moments. He slipped away through the wall of trees and vanished. The group kept walking slowly, searching for any signs of danger. Teal'c was the first one to catch the movement in the distance. Through the canopy, many trees that stood as high or higher than the great redwoods of Canada could be seen. These trees shot through the canopy like spires toward some distant heaven. Upon the nearest one, the team made out a blue figure climbing up the sheer bark. Just before he reached the branches he dug the claws on his feet and left hand into the bark and leaned back to survey the land. After a few seconds, he threw his head back and let out a howl that would put a wolf to shame. He howled long and when he finally stopped, he waited. After a few seconds, a barely audible echo returned to him and he hung his head in sadness as he descended the tree.
Kazak slipped back into the position as leader, without a sound. He brought with him an uneasy silence, which no person dared break, until finally Col. O'Neill spoke up. "What was that all about?"
"When we need to communicate over large distances, a Furling climbs one of those spires and yells his family name. If it's heard by any other, whether it be a tribe or a single wanderer, they will throw their heads back and answer." The uneasy silence returned when SG-1 realized that Kazak had gotten no response which meant no other Furling could hear that magnificent howl.
"We'll rest here." Kazak said as the path opened up onto a small clearing with a crystal clear stream running through it. The rocks provided excellent seats and the team took this chance to rest their feet. They'd been walking for almost two hours. As Carter sat down on one of the rocks, Daniel collapsed onto the soft grass beside the stream and Teal'c stood near Carter, eyes alert to every person in the clearing. O'Neill took out his canteen and took a few swigs as he watch the Furling stand at the edge of the clearing, focusing hard on something beyond the wall of trees.
Daniel got onto his knees beside the stream and looked down into the shallow water at his barely visible reflection. He slowly reached a hand toward the water in order to cup some to take a drink. His hand was inches from the water when he felt two clawed hands roughly grab his shoulders and pull him backwards away from the glistening water. Shocked, Daniel sat sprawled out on the grass staring up at the worried Kazak.
"What was that all about?" Daniel cried out.
"Don't touch the water." Kazak said in a very low tone.
"I'm sorry." Daniel began. "Is it sacred?"
"No. It's acidic."
"Acidic?" Carter asked.
"Yes, I'm sure you felt it when you came through the gate. The gases in the upper atmosphere not only yield the violet sky, they taint the air." Kazak kneeled down beside the river. "The air close to the surface is not very acidic and Thor assured me it would not harm any other species, at least not with exposure of less then a few days. The water, however is extremely dangerous to you. That is one of the reasons you must never come here without me. The rain is very unpredictable, even for Thor. I however can sense it, so with me, you are safe." Kazak reached down and cupped a palm full of water. "My species have evolved to a point where the acid doesn't hurt us. Our fur keeps us safe. The other plants and animals have also adapted to it." Kazak looked toward Daniel who was eating a snack bar. "May I?" He inquired, motioning to the plastic wrapper.
"Sure." Daniel said and placed the wrapper in the outstretched hand. Kazak held the wrapper over the water, then let it fall. It floated down and landed softly. The moment it touched the water, a hissing sound filled the clearing as the bubbles in the water appeared to attack the garbage. The Humans watched in awe as the wrapper slowly faded to nothing before their eyes. After a short while longer, their journey began again.
An hour later, they reached their destination. At the base of a cliff, there was an artificial cave. Two vertical columns along with the walls of the cave formed three arches that acted as the entrance. As they approached, they discovered that the pillars were about 8 feet high along with the ceiling. The pillars and walls of the cave were etched with, what Daniel assumed was writing. The cave came to a sudden end about twenty feet in, blocked by a manmade wall, also etched with writing an pictures. They entered the cave and found there were strategically placed rocks and carved out spots that looked like rather comfortable seats. Unlit torches hung on the walls and because the sun hung low on the horizon, Kazak picked up a rock, scratched it with his claws and easily lit one of the torches. He then offered everyone to sit down while he lit the other three torches.
"What is this place?" Daniel asked as he got comfortable on a rock near an old fire pit.
"A temple to a memory." Kazak answered. "When you are ready, we can begin."
"No time like the present." O'Neill said as he stood up.
"Then come with me." Kazak, still holding a torch approached the wall at the back of the cave. SG-1 followed close behind. He stood in front of the wall and stared towards it, as if searching for something. Shoulder height on the far right he found it. The glyph he found consisted of three diagonal slashes. He reached up and placed his claws in the grooves. Effortlessly he slid his claw and a rumbling sound accompanied the tablet as it slid out of the way.
"Neat." The colonel commented.
"Hope lies without, but truth lies within." Kazak read from a section of wall that remained. Then he stepped forward into the blackness and waited for SG-1 to follow. Carefully they all entered and slowly made their way deeper into the unlit temple. A soft rumbling came from behind them as the tablet closed again and the only light in the darkness was the torch in Kazak's hand. They all advanced eager to learn what awaited them, but dreadful of what would come first.
Thanks to my loyal reviewer, Pauline.
Everyone Please Review! Thanks!